Terminology – WOTTIES (3) Cambridge Dictionary WOTY 2019

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Cambridge Dictionary WOTY* 2019 is upcycling.

Upcycling is defined as “the activity of making new furniture, objects, etc. out of old or used things or waste material.” (CambridgeDictionary WOTY 2019). The Upcycle Movement will add, to stress the difference with recycling, "in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original". An upcycled higher value or quality, such as sustainability, for which Forbes investment watch has noted that "87% of US millennial Internet users are willing to pay more". For example, Addidas upcycles ocean plastic waste, spinning it into the yarn that the company uses to knit sports shoe uppers. 

Cambridge Dictionary lexicographers recorded a 181% increase in the frequency of searches for the term upcycling, since it was added, in 2011, to the online Cambridge Dictionary. They also found that searches had doubled in the past year. A spike in usage attributed, on the one hand to the political connotations of the term upcycling, in regards climate change; and on the other hand, to the form of action that upcycling subsumes, which is perceived as highly desirable, and "feel good".

In fact, all of the terms on the Cambridge Dictionary shortlist of candidate WOTTIES** reflect the 2019 renewed interest in the politics of climate change, and youth-led commitment to action, as the following runner-up terms indicate.

• carbon sink noun

an area of forest that is large enough to absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the earth’s atmosphere and therefore to reduce the effect of global warming

• compostable adjective

something that is compostable can be used as compost when it decays

• preservation noun

the act of keeping something the same or of preventing it from being damaged

• plastic footprint

a measurement of the amount of plastic that someone uses and then discards, considered in terms of the resulting damage caused to the environment.

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For a primer on the WOTY upcycling, as one of several solutions to some of the root causes of climate change, consider the below video The Story of Solutions (2013), written by Annie Leonard and Jonah Sachs, directed by Louis Fox and produced by Free Range Studios. The Story of Solutions (2013) is one of the viral educational videos of The Story of Stuff Project, supported by the Tides Foundation.  

* WOTY - An acronym that stands for "Word Of The Year". It rhymes with "potty". 
** WOTTIES - Plural form of the acronym WOTY. 

Reference

Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2019

https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2019/11/04/cambridge-dictionarys-word-of-the-year-2019/
Petro, G. (Feb. 8, 2019) Upcycling your way to sustainability - Forbes Magazine
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregpetro/2019/02/08/upcycling-your-way-to-sustainability/
The Story of Stuff Project
https://storyofstuff.org/
The Story of Stuff (2007) [21:16]
https://youtu.be/9GorqroigqM
La historia de las cosas (2007) [20:45]
https://youtu.be/ykfp1WvVqAY
The Upcycle Movement (Our Story)
https://theupcyclemovement.com/pages/our-story
Tides foundation
https://www.tides.org/

Terminology – WOTTIES (2) Collins Dictionary WOTY 2019 shortlist

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

No less interesting than the WOTY* is the shortlist of WOTY candidates. In other words, the 2019 Collins list of potential WOTTIES from which the WOTY is finally selected, “winner of them all”. 

The following terms were shortlisted for the Collins Dictionary WOTY 2019 [Collins Word Lover’s blog(1)]:

• bopo (ˈbəʊpəʊ) noun also spelt BoPo: a movement advocating the view that people should be proud of the appearance of their bodies, or any aspect of this, especially size

• cancel (ˈkænsəl) verb: to publicly cease to acknowledge a person, organization, etc, esp on social media, in order to express disapproval of their activities or opinions

• deepfake (ˈdiːpˌfeɪk) noun, verb: (noun) a technique by which a digital image or video can be superimposed onto another, which maintains the appearance of an unedited image or video; (verb) to superimpose one digital image or video onto another so that it maintains the appearance of an unedited image or video

• double down (ˈdʌbəl daʊn) phrasal verb: to reinforce one’s commitment to a venture or idea in spite of opposition or risk

• entryist (ˈɛntrɪɪst) noun, adjective: (noun) a person who joins an existing political party with the intention of changing its principles and policies; (adjective) relating to the practice of joining an existing political party with the intention of changing its principles and policies

• hopepunk (ˈhəʊpˌpʌŋk) noun: a literary and artistic movement that celebrates the pursuit of positive aims in the face of adversity

• influencer (ˈɪnflʊənsə) noun: a person who uses social media to promote lifestyle choices, commercial products, etc to his or her followers

• nonbinary (ˌnɒnˈbaɪnərɪ) adjective. Also spelt non-binary: relating to a gender or sexual identity that does not conform to the binary categories of male or female, heterosexual or homosexual

• rewilding (riːˈwaɪldɪŋ) noun: the practice of returning areas of land to a wild state, including the reintroduction of animal species that are no longer naturally found there

Got a favorite?

* WOTY is an acronym that stands for Word of the Year. It rhymes with “potty”.

©Collins Dictionaries

                                 

  

References

Collins Word of the Year – The Collins word of the Year is ….

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/woty

Collins Word Lover’s blog

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/word-lovers-blog/

Collins Word Lover’s blog (1) - Nov. 7, 2019 – Collins Dictionaires  - Collins Word of the Year 2019 shortlist

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/word-lovers-blog/new/collins-word-of-the-year-2019-shortlist,580,HCB.html

Collins Word Lover’s blog (2) - Nov. 7, 2019 - Ian Brookes -  From ‘Brexiety’ to ‘prorogation’: How Brexit has changed the way we use language in 2019

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/word-lovers-blog/new/from-brexiety-to-prorogation-how-brexit-has-changed-the-way-we-use-language-in-2019,577,HCB.html

Collins Word Lover’s blog (3) - Nov. 7, 2019 – Collins Dictionaires - The rich tapestry of language provides a varied Word of the Year 2019 list

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/word-lovers-blog/new/the-rich-tapestry-of-language-provides-a-varied-word-of-the-year-2019-list,578,HCB.html

Terminology – WOTTIES 2019 (1) Collins Dictionary Word of the Year

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

T’is the WOTY* season anew! The Collins Dictionary lexicographers have just named Climate strike as WOTY 2019. 

Climate strike, the winning Collins WOTY 2019, is defined variously as “a protest demanding action on climate change”, or "a form of protest in which people absent themselves from education or work in order to join demonstrations demanding action to counter climate change." (Collins Word of the Year)  

Although the term appeared in 2015, in connection with the Paris UN Climate Change COP21 (Conference of the Parties), Collins lexicographers registered a 100-fold increase of the term, in 2019. A surge in usage attributed to youth activism, led by the young 16-year old Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg.

Indeed, since 2018, following Thunberg's intervention (Thunberg, 2018), at the UN Climate Change COP24 meeting, in Katowice, Poland, hundreds of youth-led climate strikes have taken place, in more than 270 cities. Just this past Sept. 20th, 2019, on the occasion of the New York UN Climate Summit, youth strikes for climate change were attended by an estimated 4 million people, around the globe, from Mumbai to Manhattan (Kaplan, et al., 2019).

Collins dictionary lexicographers select the WOTY based on close observation of the Collins Corpus, a 4.5 billion word database, with a “huge range of sources of spoken and written English, including newspapers, radio and other types of media, from all over the world” (Collins Word Lover’s Blog).  A database where public submissions of new words are both welcome, and vetted, for inclusion. The sorts of considerations that are part of the Collins Corpus monitoring process include: frequency, breadth of usage, breadth of sources, and lifespan of the term. Terms are rarely removed. They are indexed as obsolete or archaic if they have dropped out of use, and old fashioned if their usage is dropping.

* WOTY is an acronym for “Word of the Year”. It rhymes with “potty”.

© Collins Dictionaries

Reference

Collins Word of the Year (portal) – The Collins Word of the Year is ….

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/woty

Collins Word Lover’s blog

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/word-lovers-blog/

Collins Word Lover’s blog–Nov. 2, 2016 – Collins Dictionaries - Collins Word of the Year 2016 Q & A

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/word-lovers-blog/new/collins-word-of-the-year-2016-q-a,326,HCB.html

Collins Word Lover’s blog–Nov.7 2019 - David Shariatmadar - These are strange, anxiety-inducing times – but there are reasons to be cheerful.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/word-lovers-blog/new/collins-2019-word-of-the-year-shortlist,576,HCB.html

Kaplan, S., Lumpkin, L., and B. Dennis (Sept. 20, 2019) We will make them hear us: Millions of youth around the word strike for action
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/09/20/millions-youth-around-world-are-striking-friday-climate-action/

Thunberg, G. (2018) Full Speeh at UN Climate Change COP24 Meeting, in Katowice, Poland.

https://youtu.be/VFkQSGyeCWg

Oh, patents! Fendi® (5) Handag straps

Copyright Françoise Herrmann

Fendi® has created a large selection of handbag straps, both to accessorize and transform handbags into shoulder bags. Fendi® handbag straps are patented in the US design patent USD841985S1, titled Strap for bag. The patent was awarded to Maria Silvia Venturini Fendi. 

Below, the patent figure 1.2, showing the Fendi® handbag strap. According to the patent, the strap break lines, drawn on the patent figure 1.2, are meant to indicate the “indeterminate length of the strap”. The patent further specifies that the appearance of anything showing in between the break lines is beyond the ornamental design covered by the patent. 

As a reminder: “a utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a “design patent” protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171) [MPEP Chapt. 1502.01; [R-07.2015]]. 

Included below the patent figure 1.2, some of the varied, long and short, marketed Fendi® strap models, designed for the Fendi® Baguette, and many other Fendi® bag styles.

References

Fendi® USA

https://www.fendi.com/us

MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent

https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html

Oh, patents! Fendi® (4) 3Baguette clasp

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Fendi® 3B (3Baguette) handbag comes equipped with a patented clasp, designed as a twist-lock, double "F"  Fendi® logo.  The US design patent USD761687S1, titled Clasp, discloses the ornamental design of this clasp, invented by Maria Silvia Venturini Fendi. 

Included below, the patent Figures 1 and 7.  Figure 1 shows the clasp closed, with a constructed double "F" Fendi® logo. Figure 7 shows the clasp open, with a deconstructed double "F" Fendi® logo. Also included below, the image of a marketed Fendi® 3Baguette bag, in gray and blue orchard print, with the closed patented twist-lock clasp, appearing as a constructed double "F" logo.

.

Note that it is the ornamental design of the clasp that is patented, rather than the twist-lock mechanism of the double "F" logo. Indeed: “a utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a “design patent” protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171) [MPEP Chapt. 1502.01; [R-07.2015]].

References
Fendi®

https://www.fendi.com/us
MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent
https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html

Oh, patents! Fendi® (3) This is not a bag....

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

 According to Fendi®: It's a Baguette! 

Fendi®'s most iconic handbag, created in 1997, by Maria Silvia Venturini Fendi, is called the Baguette bag. Since it was first launched, more than 700 different models have been created. 

The Fendi® Baguette bag, just like the long french baguette bread that gets tucked under your arm, was also originally designed with a very short shoulder strap, so that it could get tucked, in just the same place.

Awarded the US design patent USD767884, titled Handbag, the Fendi® 3B (3Baguette) is a newer version, launched in 2014, of the classic 1997 Baguette bag. The 3B has an extendable shoulder strap and a patented twist-lock clasp. 

When the 3B was first launched, Fendi® asked 5 influential women to design their own Fendi® 3B bags. Fendi® selected Rihanna,  Sarah Jessica Parker,  Rachel Feinstein,  Jourdan Dunn and Leandra Medine, to design the five new 3B bags. The bags were then auctioned within the context of a large philanthropic event, on the occasion of the opening of the Fendi® flagship store, on Madison Avenue, in NYC, on February 13, 2015. In turn, the proceeds of the event were all donated to five philanthropic organizations, selected by the star designers.

The patent Figure 2 drawing of the 3B is included below, together with Images of the five, star-designed, 3B bags created on the occasion of the Fendi® flagship store inauguration on Madison Avenue, in NYC.

  As a reminder: “a utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a “design patent” protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171) [MPEP Chapt. 1502.01; [R-07.2015]]. 

References
Fendi®
https://www.fendi.com/us
Five Fendi 3baguette by 5 iconic women - Crash Magazine 
https://www.crash.fr/fendi-3baguette-by-5-iconic-women/

MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent

https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html

Zilkha, B. (2-14-2015) Fendi celebrates opening of the New York flagship Store – Forbes Magazine

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bettinazilkha/2015/02/14/fendi-celebrates-the-opening-of-the-new-york-flagship-store/#561aee0659d2

Oh, patents! Fendi® (2) Sock-Sneaker

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Also awarded to Maria Silvia Venturini Fendi, on April 9, 2019, the US design patent USD844948, titled Shoe, a shoe marketed as the Sock-Sneaker. The Sock-Sneaker is a slip-on, high-top sneaker with a  knitted upper that hugs the wearer’s foot and ankle.  

The Fendi® Sock-Sneaker upper is knitted in a variety of different patterns. Below, the patent Figure 1, and two different marketed Sock-Sneaker models: one with a striped upper, and the other embellished with pearl beads.

As a reminder:  “a utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a “design patent” protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171) [MPEP Chapt. 1502.01; [R-07.2015]]. 

References
Fendi®
https://www.fendi.com/us/

MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent

https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html

Oh, patents! Fendi® (1) Sock Ankle Boot

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Fendi®, the Italian luxury fashion design company, with the double “F” logo, was founded in Rome, Italy, in 1925, by Adele and Edoardo Fendi. Originally a leather and custom fur company, Fendi® was taken over by the founders’ five daughters—Paola, Anna, Franca, Carla and Alda. The five sisters modernized and diversified the company collections, bringing in the German Designer Karl Lagerfeld, as the company’s Creative Director, in 1965, for a tenure that lasted 54 years. Today, Maria Silvia Venturini Fendi, a third-generation Fendi, granddaughter of the founders, Adele and Edoardo Fendi, heads the company’s creative designs.

Among the many US design patents awarded to Maria Silvia Venturini Fendi, USD844949, titled Shoe, was awarded on April 9, 2019. This patented shoe was initially marketed as the Fendi® Sock Ankle Boot, made of knitted fabric, that molds the wearer’s feet and ankles.

As a reminder: “a utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a “design patent” protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171) [MPEP Chapt. 1502.01; [R-07.2015]]. 

Included below, Figure 2, extracted from the patent, together with two marketed models of the Fendi® Sock Ankle Boot. 

References

Fendi®

https://www.fendi.com/us
MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent
https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html